


Letters to home

by Enide_Dear



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Crack, It is my undying hope, M/M, to someday be forgiven for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2019-11-14 12:17:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18052367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enide_Dear/pseuds/Enide_Dear
Summary: I ain’t saying they’re golddiggers….but Thranduil has ruled his kingdom longer than any other elf king or queen in Middle Earth, and let’s face it, there’s nothing but trees and spiders in there. Where does all the wine and food and jewelry come from?Written as a series of letters between father and son.





	1. Chapter 1

Legolas:

Dear Ada,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am much relieved to hear the news about Dol Goldur and your success in driving the Darkness away from that accursed place. It is my belief that for once the Noldor will make a reliable ally in keeping Greenwood safe. My suspicions about them were much assuaged during the Fellowships stay in Lothlorien. The Lord and Lady seemed to me good and wise and generous; Lady Galadriel herself gave gifts of great use and worth to us and Lord Celeborn was much concerned when I spoke to him about the plight of his kin in Greenwood. He gave me his word to aid us once his own borders were safe, and I am delighted to hear he honored that promise.

Gondor is in something of an upheaval about the coming wedding. I regret to inform you that it will be held in less than a months’ time; not enough time for you to make it here before the ceremony. Men are hasty, as Fangorn is wont to say. I shall return to that wonderful forest once everything is settled here. The Old One believe that some of the great trees might be coerced into giving acorns or seeds that might take root in Greenwood, which would go a long way to help restoring our kingdom to its former beauty.

As for the wedding, everything goes according to plan. Men can get much done in little time when motivated and of course they are delighted to once more merge their kin with ours. King Aragorn has proved very generous and proper clothing for the wedding has been sown up for all the Fellowship in the very finest cloth; silver and white father, you would approve!

Speaking of which, I hope the bundles of brocade and silk I sent you got delivered without incidents. They were a gift from King Aragorn as I expressed my delight in them during the measuring for new clothes. There is a green one with gold stitching that is particularly beautiful and which Aragorn said would be perfect for a woodland prince at a feast, and I agree.

It did take me a number of tries to shoo him out of the dressing room though, and he was a bit sour for it. I made it up to him with dinner the same evening, light conversation, light mood and light touches. It all worked out to the best and I found the gift of cloth sent to my room the very next morning. 

Gimli son of Gloin will be crafting the wedding tiara, in mithril nonetheless. If you please ada, I could need some advice on dwarves. We have become friendly enough under our travels and he is obviously smitten by me, but I fail to see how to approach him. I know you have had dealings with dwarves before and would humbly ask for advice.

Your loving son,  
Legolas

 

To be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

Thranduil: 

My dear son. I am glad to inform you that all is well in Greenwood, better even than it has been for many long years. Lord Celeborn did indeed hold his word and Lady Galadriel herself cast down the foul burg, stone by stone. I believe we may have peace for many years to come. The Lord did speak of you with the highest esteem; I am proud to see you made such good impression on him and thank you for convincing him to help in our plight.

With the word you sent from Mithrandir, I took to seeking out his kin Radagast. He might not be of as great power as the Grey Pilgrim, but I believe we can work together to clear the last of the evil from under our trees. He has a remarkable affinity for animals and I have great hopes of him finding me a new steed. He was muttering something about a white stag.

It warms my heart to see what generous and skilled friends you have made in the world. The cloth and the jewelry are exquisite and very fitting. We will celebrate your friendship with a feast when you return home. I have been given several barrels of a very fine vintage from King Bain son of Bard as a show of continued good will between our people. 

As you recall, both King Bard and King Daín Ironfoot fell during the war. Though I much miss the Man, who was wise for his kind and unstinting to his friends, I can’t say I mourn the dwarf. He has been succeeded by Thorin III Stonehelm, a dwarf of much more open mind. I have met him on three separate occasions and believe he will not be opposed a favorable trade between us.

Speaking of dwarves, they are a different breed than Men altogether. Men are like dogs, if such a crude comparison might be made. They are very excitable and happy and easy to form lasting bonds with. It is such a shame they die so quickly and that one has to spend so much time making sure they don’t eat too much thrash. But dwarves are more like cats. Secretive, keeps to themselves and in some ways utterly incomprehensible. One must take care not to smother them, to be approachable but not bother them. Be mysterious. Make them come to you. Stroke their fur occasionally. And you shall soon have them eating for your hand, which I wish was just a saying, but the benefits of such a friendship cannot be overestimated. If you succeed you will have the most faithful companion who will regular show up at your door with gifts. Just make sure they know your tastes, or you might up with the equivalent of a dead rat on your pillow in the morning. Their tastes can be truly appalling. I recall one such incident with Thrain II where I was gifted a most horrendous cloak of yellow and I had no choice but to throw a fit over it to drive home my point.   
Even dwarves should realize that blondes do not look favorable in yellow. I would have looked like the world’s tallest banana. 

But you mention little of the city of Gondor. I worry that such a city of stone will not be favorable to elven spirit and mind. Please take care to leave the city for fairer sights in the surroundings to quicken your soul. Perhaps there are some beautiful lands nearer Gondor?

I must confess my awe at your casual mention of Fangorn. If you can truly convince an Ent to give you boons from his forest, then I applaud you. They are notoriously tight-fisted.

Any news you have on the upcoming wedding would be gladly received. It grieves me that I cannot participate, but I am soothed by King Aragorns eagerness for the union.

Your loving father,   
Thranduil

 

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Dear Ada,

My heart delights at the news of Greenwood. It is very good news indeed and I look forward to returning once more to the splendor of my childhoods forest. With Lord Celeborn in the south, Bain and Thorin III in the east and Radagast on watch in the north, hopefully our people can enjoy some peace at last.

You were right about Gondor, I had not noticed how much the bare stones weighed on my soul until I took a day to ride down to Anduin, to swim in its waters and refresh my mind in the peace of green and growing things surrounding it.  
Prince Imrahil had his ships harbored not far from where I was taking my solace and perhaps I should have taken more heed to Men’s sometimes rather delicate senses; the prince was quite flustered and tongue-tied at first but he quickly invited me to his royal ship after my swim. Such wonderful vessel it was! Silvergrey with sails of purest white, and it rode the great river like a queen dancing! I told him as much and when he saw my delight he was quick to offer me to visit him whenever I wanted to.

Speaking of which, you may expect a messenger from King Eomer of Rohan any day now. Do not be too gentle with him; Eomer is the kind of Man who enjoys being held at arrow point so for all that I have made an impression on him I believe he is more one for you to work on. Though I will say it was amusing to play the cold and aloof ice prince with sudden bursts of fire for once. I believe you will have him in your hand within minutes of meeting.

 

I took your advice on dwarves to heart and have had success. Gimli son of Glóin is still working on the forms and designs of the tiara and I have enlisted myself to his aid. It will be a thing of true concinnity once completed, but it has taken a number of tries to perfect. As my dwarf friend says, he is not used to crafting for elves and I have had to teach him that lines can be soft and rounded as opposed to hard and blocky. The final tiara will be done in mythril, no less, but there has been trial tiaras made of gold and silver to, as he says, ‘try out the shape’. I think he finds the shape of them peculiar and is amused to make them. He keeps requesting my input and though I lack the skill myself to craft, I believe we have together made delightful objects; rings, necklaces, bracelets whose shape and form is beautiful to our people and whose inherent value would be a delight to a dwarf. Gimli insists on me keeping half of what we make and I have gratefully accepted such a friendly gift. If you would send a messenger of our people to Gondor, I will let them return with some of the jewelry for safe keeping. May I hope, if I can be so bold, you will find one of them to your own liking and finally, finally exchange that crown I made for you in daycare as an elfling? You have worn it for close to 2500 years now. 

Aragorn had a row with prince Imrahil the other day about ‘making claims on Gondors properties’ to which the prince answered rather snidely with ‘Gondor being unable to support their claims’ and I’m afraid Aragorn punched him after that. A rather undignified scuffled followed and when I tried to break it up Imrahil accidently hit me over the eye (Men move so slowly, it was no great feat to throw myself in front of the punch) when I was defending Aragorn. So I had the perfect reason to storm away, shocked over their brutish behavior.

Not two hours later prince Imrahil 'found' me in my rooms and apologise profoundly. I accepted his apology, of course, and had a drink with him poured in those horrible, clumsy metal goblets Gondor fancies; as you recall dol Amroth is known for its superb glassware. We shall see what this seed might grow into.

Later that night I had another moonlit talk with Aragorn. He seemed deeply distraught, but he wouldn't let me privy to his thoughts. I feel a choice is upon him and will of course support him in his time of need.

On an unrelated note, soon-to-be queen Arwen is looking harried and distraught these days. Wedding nerves, perhaps?

Your loving son,  
Legolas


	4. Chapter 4

Dear son, 

I will start with your latest news first and a note of fatherly advcie; step lightly around Noldori! They are secretly and powerful, and one in full snit over an upcoming wedding is not to be trifled with. I strongly advice you make sure never to be alone in a room with her. After all, her grandmother and father both have powers, so Arwen Undominel might have some aces up her delicatley embroidered sleeves as well. Take care she doesn't lash out at you. I fear her powers far more than some enraged humans punch.

Your success with friends continues to delight my heart and enrich our lands. You were always a dilligent student and I am proud of you and your success in the world of men, dwarves and other good people of Middle Earth. The green emerals neclace was a wonder, beyond what I have seen in many, many years and it shall be a royal emblem, and a sign of good will between our people and Duins Folk.   
The crown, however, stays where it has been these last millenia (oh how time flies! it seems but yesterday you were an alfling on my knee!). It is one of my dearest possessions and it is a fathers priviledge to embarrass their children sometimes.

On a more serious note, I need to ask of you, being more well traveled than i in these latter years, if you have met the skin changer Beorn on your travels, or heard news of him? Radagast want me to meet him, living as he is on our western boarders, and i know nothing of his kind. Any rumors, news or facts you have heard of him might help. Is he a threat or a potential ally, and what could be done to win him to our side?

Speaking of Radagast, he recently gifted me a white stag, decendant of my late steed that perished in the Battle of Five Armies. it is a wonderful creature, still but a kid, all long legs and soulful eyes. I was so delighted that I threw him a feast; he is easy to please. Merriment, wine and some admiration of his hedgehoges and he was all bolstered up with pride. We are working together to restore the southern parts of our kingdom, where the decay was the deepest. Maya magic is a strange thing, but not too difficult to work along with. 

King Eomer and I met the other day. I am surprised you didn't see sparks flying all the way to Gondor, truly what a hot headed man! The ensuing row was invigorating and amusing and I do believe we will get along excellently. Rohan have beautiful leather work handling, for light armour or weapon sheats or even decoration. Hopefully they can be persuaded to try out such novelties as soap and shampoo in exchange. 

As his friend, it is important that you stand by king Elessar in his trying times. Humans are late to realize that war is but one battlefield and the heart quite another. I trust in your subtlety and closeness to his heart, and I am certain you will help him to see clearly, unhampered by old history, to walk into the future. I feel your quest stands once more on the edge of a knife.

 

Your loving father  
Thranduil


	5. Chapter 5

Dear Ada,

I have not met nor heard of skin changers myself, no more than what tales for children your read me when I was small. However, Gimli turned out to have news, no older than say half a generation of his kind. His father Gloin had met Beorn. The skin changer, he told me, is a man of testy temper and abslutel love for animals. He mostly eats milk and honey - do not offer him meat! He might be aggressive if provoked. Also he has no love for dwarves, although I suppose that will not be a problem. I would advise that you be gentle and caring, perhaps show him the kid Radagast gave you. In all humbleness, I think i would fare better with him than you, father, but I cannot leave Gondor for the moment. The situation here is very delicate at the moment, with the wedding only days ahead.

The City of Gondor and the White Citadel in particular is in something of an upheaval. The soon-to-be Queen has been seen crying at several occasions and the King has been seen pacing, frowning and muttering to himself. I have done my best to lighten these dark moods and do feel like I have succeeded. Something of the old Aragorn shines through in my presence and he has been trying to spend more time with me; unfortunately, I have been kept somewhat busy by both prince Imrahil and Gimli son of Gloin running down my door with increasing frequency as well as a number of smaller lords and dignitaries. My rooms in Gondor are all but crowded by gifts; enough delicately wrought glass for several banquets, jewelry of such beauty as to make the heart leap with joy, delicacies I had never before heard of (such as chocolate, a rare southern treat), two new horses in my stables along with riding gear, weapons both useful and decorative......Only from Aragorn has the flow of gifts ended, but he is very distracted at the moment. I know what you would say to me, to keep my eyes on the goal but I have found that fear of losing can sometimes bring about sudden decisiveness from Men. I would have you trust me on this, ada.

The King and Queen, it is rumoured, no longer dines together.

Your loving son,  
Legolas


	6. Chapter 6

My dear son,

I do not agree with your decision to keep your distance from Aragorn at these times, but I have long since given up on trying to persuade you once your heart is set on a course. You are far too like your Mother in that respect and remembering her wisdom in the ways of hearts, I shall leave you to it. Fortunate indeed that you have other options to fall back upon, should your primary goal fail.

Though I beg of you, no ships! I am certain prince Imrahil is a very fine man, being of elven descendance and all, but he is after all just a Man. I have a long standing promise from Cirdan himself of a ship of particular splendor set aside should that fateful day ever be upon us. Fines polished wooden hull, splendid silver sails, plush velvet seats - I cannot fathom even a scion of Dior doing better.  
Also I had to perform some quite unspeakable acts to get us room on that ship and I would not like to see my efforts being in vain.

I have established quite the trading node in Eryn Lasgalen these days - foodstuff, wine and goods coming from Dale, horses and leatherwork from Edoras, rare herbs both medical and for spice from Radagast, gold and weapons from the Lonely Mountain and so on - and it all passes through my hands where I take but a small percentage in administrative tolls and make sure all our esteemed friends get the best mirkwood has to offer - my company - when the come to visit. It doesn't do to get greedy or narrow minded like the Lake Master did; it never ends well. Instead I rely on the generosity of our new trading partners, allies and friends.

Since Mithrandir and the others never deemed us important enough to join in their White Council, despite our people holding back Sauron basically alone for centuries, I have elected to form a new couldil with our new allies and I have named it the Green Council in honour of our lands. I hope news of this reaches Mithrandir and makes him choke on his beard.  
In fact i am certain it will, since the friendship I have *rigorously* persuade with Lord Celeborn have led to Galadriel throwing in the metaphorical towel and decided to leave Middle Earth. Silly bint. My hair is every bit as shiny as hers and my eyebrows much better.

And so I am delighted to say our woods are once more ringing with laughter and feasts and many of our people have been able to lay down their arms in pursuit of more peaceful hobbies, or lands free from Mordors vermine and our allies strong and dedicated.

I also met with Beorn and though all went well I think we shall wait until such time as he gets to meet you. I am sure he will see you as a tender little elfling and fuss all over your. I do hope you have not outgrown your love for honey cakes.

King Eomer of Rohan, King Thorin III of Durins Folk, King Bain of Dale, Lord Celeborn, Radagast the Brown and all the others who have sugared our realm sends their regards.

With joy and peace in my heart,

Thranduil


	7. Chapter 7

Father,

My news are too great to await even common politeness.

Today I married the High King of Gondor, Aragorn II Elessar of the House of Telcontar! (and I do hope I will not have to add all that to my name, I have never felt the need for titles) in front of all assembled Men, Elves and Dwarves. The wedding was planned, but the 'bride' (Men's language lack nuances, but you see what I mean) was a surprise to most of them! I could go on and on about the ceremony and will tell you all in great detail next we meet, but for this hasty letter I will get to the important part.

The night before the wedding, Aragorn knocked on my door. He looked like a man who'd have to face a terrible decision but has now found peace in his choice. He took my hand and asked to marry me. i was of course properly overwhelmed by joy and so forth but pointe out with tears in my eyes that I have no real title of my own, nor land and thus nothing to bring into such an union.

He then granted me Ithilien as a wedding gift.

Yes father, I am now Prince over a large amount of beautiful land between Anduín and Ephel Dúath in my own right as well as the Queen (again, that lack of nuances) of the largest Kingdom of Men.

There were a lot of crying at the wedding from a large number of people whom I shall now have to keep myself in check not to console to thoroughly. Being married does bring on certain limitations. 

Your loving son,

Consort Legolas, Prince of Ithilien, who is still fond of honey cakes


	8. Chapter 8

Legolas, my little leaf!

My son. The pupil have no become the master. Ithilien! Words have it the cries Elrond’s rage could be heard halfway across the Misty Mountains but I do not know as to why he was so surprised.

After all, what is an Eveningstar compared to the Sun?

Congratulations! You have added the largest slot of land to Sindarin rule since, well, since I took over Greenwood the Great.

P.s. Not even a Dunedain can live that long, can they? If you play your cards right I am sure that wealthy dwarf of yours will still wait around for you. I know what you would say, that I should be satisfied with what you have accomplished so far but a true leader must always think ahead. Didn't he become Lord of some caves somewhere?  
After all, mortals come and go but jewels are forever and at the end of times? Diamonds are an elf's best friend.

 

The End


End file.
